Simply put, Mohammed is a very common name in the UAE. At one point, I had eight of them in my classroom. It made it very convenient for classroom management because most of the time I would just have to say, “Mohammed, stop talking” and the whole class would go silent.
        I would learn the Mohammeds by their first and second names: Mohammed Jamal, Mohammed Ahmed, Mohammed Abraham, Mohammed Mohammed. Yes, sometimes they were named Mohammed twice.
I was asking my class their fathers’ names one day because we had Open House that evening and it’s the fathers that come to that. (Very few mothers—I had two or three in two years—attend school events). After about the 6th or 7th student, one Mohammed enlightened me, “Teacher, just look at our second names.”
       In doing so, I realized that the fathers’ names that had been given me all matched up to the students’ second names. And that is when I learned how they are named: second name is father’s, third name is grandfather’s, fourth name is great-grandfather’s, etc, etc, etc, and last name is their “tribe”. I suppose it’s not all that unique since my middle name, Mayme, is my grandma’s. But in their culture, every family follows this custom.
        Still the first time I did roll it was daunting to read the names on the list. Student #1: Abraham Mohammed Faisal Jamal Abdulrahman. Student #2: Ahmed Mohammed Ahmed Jamal Abdulrahman Sulaiman. Needless to say, there weren’t any David Smiths or Jeff Jones.

My two classes full of Mohammeds!
Great kids.

           An added benefit of living abroad is having a maid that doesn’t charge more per hour than you make as a teacher. Although a huge assistance, paying a maid more than you make is atrocious. And before the backlash, I know they work hard and I have respect for them. I took a gig as a maid one Christmas break and it’s the hardest work I’ve ever done. But it’s still a position that needs no years of education and should not be on the same pay scale as a college graduate.
           
            So hiring Upali in the UAE was a no brainer. He would come once every two weeks to deep clean my apartment and miraculously leave my balcony without a trace of the ever-constant sand that blew across the desert. Upali would charge me 20 dirham an hour (which at the time was approximately $5.44) and it would take him 2 hours to complete the work.
            Of course, I would “tip” him and that earned me a “You spoil him,” from the Princess (more on her later). My argument was, “He spoils me.” She didn’t tip and apparently she was none too kind to Upali either. He stopped cleaning her apartment.
            But Upali was more than a maid to me. He was the kindest and sweetest man. And so hard working. He and his wife were from Sri Lanka and he lived close to my home. Many days I would see them riding their moped around the community and they were always smiling and friendly.

                       

                           This is Upali: my maid and friend!

            Whenever I needed anything; car maintenance, wiring connections, shelving fixed, furniture moved, Upali would be there to help me. He even drove my parents to the airport when I had to work. He showed up in his pressed khakis and white shirt and looked every bit the professional chauffeur. Being alone in a foreign country, I was grateful for all the help that Upali gave me. He is a good man!

            Our maid in Paraguay was Miriam. She would work half a day, laundry and all, for 80 guarani (approximately $14.00). We would give her 100 since we had a German Shepherd that shed a lot. We paid her on the high end of the scale.
            She spoke no English; we barely spoke Spanish. So most of the exchanges were si, si, muy bien, gracias, all delivered with a smile and a lot of pointing. It wasn’t until after a year that Mark’s roommate realized Mark was calling her Mierda. She would just smile and respond with “Hola, Senior Mark.” Poor Miriam.

            It took awhile to get comfortable paying the low wages. Especially coming from America where it’s now an outrageous $25+ per hour to hire a maid! But the locals assured us that it would look poorly on us if we DIDN’T hire a maid. We were giving them jobs when they had none. And, boy oh boy, do I ever miss them!

One of my favorite ports of call on my Mediterranean Cruise was Montenegro. Montenegro is located along the Adriatic Sea and surrounded by Croatia, Bosnia, Serbia and Albania. Well, here's a map:

More specifically, our ship entered the Bay of Kotor and anchored at the base of the Orjen and Lovcen Mountains. Here we explored the city of Kotor.

Arriving at the shores of Kotor, looking back to the ship and the Bay.

The city of Kotor is listed as a UNESCO Historical Heritage Site. Winding through the narrow stone streets, there are surprises all around. Quaint squares are lined with open patios for dining or refreshments. Cute boutique shops with friendly owners welcome you into their shops. Beautiful green mountains backdrop the old stone buildings.
It was my favorite city and not only for the obvious beauty shown by photographs but for the wonderful people inviting us in and talking with us for hours.

When Michelangelo was commissioned in 1501 to create a sculpture that would become one of his most famous works, David, I'm sure he never envisioned this guy posing live in the streets of Florence for tourists to donate coins for the opportunity to photograph him.